Wire fabric belt structure



March 10, 1942. o. c. SCHERFEL 2,276,099 I WIRE FABRIC BELT STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l Petented Mar. 10, 1942 v WIRE FABRIC BELT STRUCTURE Otto Carl Scherfel, Haddon Heights, N. J., as-

signor to Audubon Wire Cloth Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application Februaryzl, 1939, Serial No. 257,681

" 7 Claims. (01. 198-201) I My invention relates to belt structures or conveyers made of helically coiled wires, and one object of my invention is to provide a structure of this type with marginal flanges or walls, longitudinally thereof.

A further object of my invention isto provide belt or conveyer structures of helically coiled wires with marginal walls or flanges 01f a highly flexible character. A further object of my invention-is to provide loose connections for the free ends of the helical- 1y coiled wires so as to provide for extreme separation of such connected ends when the belt.

or conveyer structure having longitudinal flanges or walls made up of the ends of said helically coiled wires passaround pulleys or drums of small diameter;

And a still further object of my invention is to i provide the main body or web of the fabric from which such belt or conveyer structures are produced with cross rods or wires which lie in the interengaging helices of the coiled wires and the intervening cross rods or wires, would have I their interengaging blghts in the usual contacting relation.

In the other form of fabric which maybe employed in carrying out my invention, single I helically coiled wires are alternately arranged in interengaging relation with and between pairs of coiled wiresall'of the same twist--each of the single coiled wires being engaged by coiled wires on opposite sides of the same; the wire of one of said pairs ofwires on one side and the wire of another pair on the opposite side. The pairs .of helically coiled wires are arranged in nested relation and each wire of each pair is in interengaged relation with a single coiled wire but on one side only; the. single coiled wires alternating with said pairs of coiled wires and being interengaged with one wire of each pair; that is .to say, a single wire engages one of the pairs, while the other paired wire engages the next single wire, andso on. The cross-rods employed with this form of fabric pass through the interengagwhich stop at the marginal sides or edges of the conveyer or belt structure at the points where the free ends of the helically coiled wires are upwardly bent to provide the marginal walls or flanges longitudinally thereof; such cross rods or wires having their ends connected together in pairs, as' by welding, to prevent displacement longitudinally of that portion of said coiled wires in which they are placed. These connections may be independently of the helically coiled wires, or, in some instances, the cross rods or wires may be welded to the helices adjacent to the bends of the coiled wires. In all instances, the connected lie themarginal flanges or walls of the belt structure.

My invention has been developed in connection with two types or wire fabric, in'both of which,

however, the coiled wires are of the same twist and are in interengaging relation. In one form of the fabric, the helices of the coiled wires are relatively wide and are arranged to span a plurality of cross rods or wires, in the present instance,

three. In such fabric the bights of the helices of each coiled wire engage two cross-rods or wires, while a third cross-rod or wire lies in evenly spaced relation between the two first-mentioned cross rods or wires and is, in turn, engaged by other helically coiled wires on opposite sides of the same, with which other cross rods or wires are associated inthe same relation. In this form of fabric all of the helically coiled wires are in in;-

terengaging relation and, but for the presence of ends of the cross rods or wires preferably undering bights of the respective wires and have their ends connected together in pairs, as in the form of structure first mentioned.

In both forms of my improved belt structure, the cross-rods or wires stop at or adjacent the point where the ends of the helically coiled wires are bent to form the marginal walls or flanges and the connected ends of said rods may form a marginal edge at the bend of the coiled .wires and beneath the marginal walls or flanges formed by the same. This end connection of the crossrods may be eiiected by first welding a rod to one of the cross wires or rods and then welding the end of the next cross wire or .rod to said connecting rod; the second weld separating the connecting rod from the portion applied to connect the ends of said cross rods or wires. If desired, the end of these cross rods or wires may have offset portions substantially at right angles-L- shaped ends for instance-to facilitate their as- 'sociation with the helically coiled wires; such form of cross rods orwires being inserted from opposite sides of the fabric. I may also employ looped wires having their legs in properly spaced relation, which may be inserted from one edge of the fabric, and have their opposite ends connected together by welding short sections of wire thereto in the'manner noted. I may also weld the ends of the cross rods or wires to the helix of each coiled wire adjacent to the point where thelatter are bent to form the marginal walls or flanges.

Instead of knuckling or welding the free ends of pairs-of the coiled wires together in the usual manner at the edges of the belt, the ends of the wires are extended and bent back into engagement with the penultimate helix at each end of the same; such bent ends being interconnected with the similarly arranged free ends of adjacent wires. By reason of such arrangement, all of the helically coiled wires have free movement with respect to each other so as to readily expand as well as contract and this arrangement, at both sides or edges of the belt, provides extreme flexibilityin the side walls or flanges and enables such flanges to pass around small pulleys or.

The free ends of the helically'coiled wires are bent over in the form of large loops in interengaging relation so as to permit complete freedom of movement with respect to the body portion when the belt passes curved surfaces. As the flanged portions omit the cross wires or rods, they possess extreme flexibility and flanged fabric structures made in accordance with my invention may readily pass around drums or. pulleys of small .radii.

. These and other features of my invention are more fully described hereinafter; reference being had to the accompanying drawings, more or less diagrammatic in character, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of a portion of a wire fabric belt structure within the scope of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross sectional vation of a portion of the same.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of my improved belt structure, illustrating the extreme flexibility of my improved construction.

cle-

. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view, illustrating a detail of my invention.

Figs. 5 and 6 are views illustrating types of cross-rods or wires which I may employ.

.Fig. l is a View similar to Fig. 1, illustrating another form of structure within the scope of my invention, and

Fig. 2 isan enlarged elevational view, similar to Fig. 3.

In the form of fabric illustrated in Figs. 1, 2,

et seq., I have provided a group of helically coiled wires which are of the same twist and extend from side to side of the fabric. The free ends of these wires are loosely connected and are bent into engagement with the'penultimate helices adjacent to the ends of the same; occupying positions substantially like those illustrated in the pending application of Raymond J. Guba, filed March 25, 1936, Serial No. 70,845. The

,loose connections thus provided permit the ready collapse of the wires at the flanged edge portions in the straight runs of the belt structure and a1- low for extreme expansion of such flanged edge portions when the belt structure is passing around a pulley or drum; such arrangement insuring that the flanges or marginal walls shall have a flexibility as great as the flexibility of the main body of the belt structure between such marginal flanges or walls. g

In the present instance the helices of the coiled wires of the type of structure illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, et seq., are relatively wide, and these helices are arranged to embrace three crossrods or wires; the bights of each of the coiled wires engaging a cross-rod or wire, while a third cross-rod or wire passes through the helices of said wires at an intermediate position and forms while the helically coiled wires are interengaged.

their bights are not in contact; a condition clearly indicated in Fig. '1, of the drawings.

The ends of the coiled wires H) are bent perpendicularly to the plane of the main body of the fabric to form upstanding walls or flanges A at the marginal edges of the belt. The freeends of the respective wires have very loose engagement in these marginal edges so that when the belt or conveyer structure is passing around a pulley they will expand freely, a substantially extreme position being illustrated in Fig. 3; thus insuring complete flexibility when passing around pulleys or drums of small radii and at the same time providing the desired protective wall or flange which serves to prevent material carried by the belt being swept off of the'same.

Instead of knuckling or welding the free ends of-' pairs of the coiled wires together at the marginal edges of the fabric comprising the belt structure, such ends are extended and bent back into engagement with a penultimate helix at each end of the respective wires; the ends so bent being interconnected with similarly arranged ends of adjacent wires. By reason of such arrangement, all of the coiled wires have free movement with respect to each other so as to expand or contract, and this expansion or contraction is at both marginal edges of the belt structure; enabling the flanged sides or walls to follow the curvature of small pulleys or drums over which the belt structure passes, or to stand erect in horizontal runs of the same.

In Fig. 3, the free ends HI of the respective coiled wires III, are shown as bent into engagement with the penultimate helices lo of said coiled wires. The terminals of such ends preferably lie against the respective helices, and their inherent stifiness may be sufficient to retain this position. It is possible that the operation of the belt structure may tend to open these interlooped connections, and to avoid this condition it may be desirable to provide a positive connection between the free ends of the coiled wires and the helices of the same which they engage. For this purpose, the free ends HI may be welded in place, or such free ends may be wound around the penultimate helix or coil, in the manner indicated in the pending Guba application, Serial No. 70,845, before referred to.

The cross-rods or wires H which pass through the helices of the interengaged coiled wires III are secured together in pairs by preference, and this may be done in a number of ways. In one form of such connection, a wire of suitable gauge is welded to an end of one of the cross-rods or wires and then, at another point, such connecting wire is welded to an adjacent cross-rod or wire in the desired spaced relation; the second weld also serving to effect disconnection of the welding wire from the part which has provided the connection for the cross-rods or wires. The connections for the ends of the cross-rods or wires are indicated at I2, and the welds are interconneCting bights.

dicated at :r. In some instances it may be desirable to provide L-shapedwires, indicated at ll}, Fig. 5, which may be entered from opposite sides of the fabric, with a single weld between the end of one wire and the lateral projection ll of an adjacent wire. In other instances, I may provide looped wires, such as indicated at ll Fig. 6, which may be in staggered relation and entered from opposite sides of the 1 belt, and simply connect the free endsof the same in the manner indicated in Fig. 3.- In still another instance, I may connect the free ends 'of'the cross-rods or wires to the helices of the coiled wires directly adjacent to the bends of said coiled wires produced in forming the upstanding walls or flanges A, as indicated in Fig. 4; the welds beingindicated at in. stances, the cross-rods or wires provide the desired hinges for the coiled wires, and as such cross-rods or wires do not extend into those portions of the coiled wires which are bent to provide the upstanding walls or flanges A, the

latter have complete flexibility.

In the form of structure illustrated in Figs. 1

and 2, a slightly difierent form of fabric structure is provided. In this instance, pairs of coiled wires I00 and Hill lie in nested relation, and al- In all inwire members being loosely connected and bent substantially perpendicularly to the plane or said belt to provide upstanding flanges along the parallel side edges thereof; the ends of said cross rods terminating beneath, said upstanding flanges.

2. A conveyer belt formed of a plurality of interengaging spiral wire members extending transversely of said belt, andcross rods occupying helices of the central portion of the spiralwire members and engaging bightsof the same; said helices spanning at least two of said cross rods and the end portions of said spiral wire and cross rods extending longitudinally ofhelices of said coiled wires; said cross-rods being less in a length than the length of the coiled wires and ternate with single wires, indicated at 100". One

of each of the paired wires is in interengaged re-.

lationwith a single wire, but these interconnected wires are disposed in groups of three that is to sayconsidering the wires I00 and Ill!) and the wires I00", it will be noted that the wires. I00 of two pairs are intercngaged with a wire lllil between the same. In the succeeding relation, the wires Hill of two pairs are interengaged witha wire 100 between the same, and so on, and this arrangement is maintained throughout the extent of the fabric. I As in the form of structure illustrated-in Figs. 1, 2, 3, et seq., the coiled wires are provided with cross-rods or wires which pass through their in- These cross-rods or wires are indicated at. l l I, and their free ends may be connected together in the'mannerindicated in Fig. 3; that isto say, short wire sections I I2 may be welded to the ends of the same; L-fshaped rods such as shown in Fig.5 may be employed; looped wires such as shown in Fig. 6, may be employed, or the free ends of the cross-rods-or'wire may be welded to the helices of the coiled wires adjacent to the bend of the latter, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The relation of the free ends of the pairs of wires and the single wires alternating therewith i in the raised flanges or walls of thi form of my improved belt structure is the same as that illustrated in the form of belt'structure shown in Fig. l, and such iree ends are interlooped in the same manner, but without the presence of the cross-rods or wires. of perfectly substantial walls .or'flange's with complete flexibility. w

Various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved belt structure without departing from the spirit of my invention; all of which is deemed to be within the scope of the appended claims.

l. Aconveyer belt formed of a plurality of spiral wire members extending transversely of said belt, and cross rods less in length than the piral wire members and occupying helices thereof; said helices spanning at leasttwo of said cross rods and the end portions of said spiral This. insures the presence occupying the central portions of th same and having their ends permanently connected together in pairs whereby displacement with respect to the coiled wires is prevented;' each helix of the coiled wires accommodating at least three crossrods including those directly engaging the bightsof said helices, and each end of the coiled wires being bent substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the-same independently of the crossrods; the latter terminatingdirectly beneath said bent-portions-and said ends of the coiled wires being in loose connection to permit flexing when.

the fabric structure passes around pulleys or drums of small diameter.

4. A conveyer belt structure made of interengaging helically coiled wires with their ends loosely connected together, and short cross-rods passing through the interengaging bights. of said coiled wires, with longitudinal flexible marginal walls or-flanges formed by bending the loosely connected ends of thehelically coiled wires in upstanding relation; said cross-rods being secured together in pairs independently of the walls or flanges of said conveyer'structure with their or flanges.

5. A conveyer belt structure made up of interengagin helically coiled wires in which pair of nested wires alternate with single wires also in nested relationship; with short cross rods passing through interengaging bights of said coiled wires and occupying a central portion of said helically coiled wires longitudinallythereof, and flanges at the margins of said belt structure formed by bending the coiled wires'perpendicularly to the plane of; the belt without the presence of the cross-rods; the ends of the latter terminating directly beneath said flanges.

connected ends lying directly beneath said walls 6. A conveyor belt having a bottom portion formed'of a plurality of helical coils of wire arranged in succession with the coils of each over-. lapping and lnterengaging the coils of adjacent wires to form a continuous structure, cross rods extending lengthwise in said coils within the bights thereof to retain the coil in overlapping position, the overlapping coils of said structure having the interengaging bights of successive coils retained in overlapping position by sep--- arate, spaced cross rods/and flanges formed on the longitudinal edges of said bottom portion by extending the helical coils of said bottom portion at an angle thereto 7. A conveyor belt comprising a plurality of helical coils of wire arranged in succession with the coils of each-overlappin and interengaging 5 the coils of adjacent wires to form a continuous structure, the longitudinal edges of said struc ture being bent at an angle thereto to form a bottom portion with edge flanges thereon, cross ping position by spaced cross rods.

OTTO CARL SCHERFEL. 

